Yoko Ono: Collector of Skies

Gr 7 Up—This beautifully produced, comprehensive, and highly sympathetic biography of the artist covers her entire life, reporting her influences and her accomplishments, and bringing her out from behind the shadow of her famous husband. The broad facts are freely available around the Web, but here they've been organized roughly chronologically and presented in context with descriptions of works that presaged movements in music as well as visual and performance art. Divided into sections representing different life stages, the detailed narrative includes helpful historical background for modern teens and is written in a lively, often colloquial style. Endpapers with the words "Imagine Peace" in the 24 languages in which they are carved on the Imagine Peace Tower in Iceland will remind readers of two major themes of Ono's life. The book is liberally illustrated with photographs, but it will take a stretch of readers' own imaginations to understand just how ground- and taboo-breaking her art and life have been. The back matter includes a bibliography that reflects the authors' extensive research, which included an interview with the subject. For those who enjoyed Elizabeth Partridge's John Lennon: All I Want Is the Truth (Viking, 2005), this will be a must-read.—Kathleen Isaacs, Children's Literature Specialist, Pasadena, MD